Former Microsoft Prosecutor Is Now Google's Defence Lead

Google has hired former Department of Justice attorney Jeffrey Blattner to defend itself against the probe being conducted by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), Reuters reports.

Blattner, who worked as the Special Counsel for Information and Technology was among the 13 lawyers the government used in the lawsuit against Microsoft over the last decade. Microsoft was accused of using its near monopoly in the operating systems market to gain an unfair advantage in the browser market, essentially driving Netscape out of business.

Reuters has also reported that Blattner, who now owns a private law firm in Washington, was present at the American Antitrust Institute conference as a representative of Google Inc. this year.

On Friday Google acknowledged receiving legal notice from the US antitrust agency accusing it of creating monopoly and crushing competition in the search and advertising business.

“Yesterday, we received formal notification from the FTC that it has begun a review of our business. We respect the process and will be working with them over the coming months to answer questions about Google and our services,” said Google’s Amit Singhal in a blog post.